increase my gpa

This has been one of the toughest years of my life. After high school, my life became very difficult to deal with. I was unhappy with the college I chose to attend (I wanted to go out of state because of problems at home but I ended up staying) Luckily, I managed to get through with my first semester of college and squeezed out a 3.5 GPA. However, things outside of academia didn’t seem to improve. Over the winter vacation my issues at home worsened. I became severely depressed/rarely stepped out of the house. Isolation exacerbated my depression; I became reclusive and going back to a school of 20,000 undergrads was dreadful. Things got so bad I was forced to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed me with clinical depression. I was reluctant about medication so I refused to take them. From the first day of the semester, I knew I was not mentally prepared. My preconceptions proved right when at the end of this semester my GPA was brought down to 2.7. I still feel horrible about it because I know I could have made better decisions. Depression is a terrible illness, and it’s difficult to stop it when it’s already taking over your life. Three months from now I am starting my sophomore year. I admit I am scared that I might become discouraged and relapse. This summer I’m trying to relax and participate in things that give me a sense of purpose (personally, this is the only thing that has helped with depression, not medication) Although my dreams of graduating with honors are done for, I believe that the challenges I’ve faced have taught me more than I could ever learn in a classroom. I hope that I can start anew next semester and I will work as hard as I can.